Dean interrupted me. “The guys that attacked you the other night aren’t the best guys.”
I furrowed my brow. “Thanks, Sherlock. I really appreciate that. I hadn’t even considered it, what with his face tattoos and the piece he was packing that kept jamming into my goddamn hip bone.”
He sighed. “You were always incredibly observant.”
“Spit it the hell out, Dean. I’ve got six more minutes. I want to know who they were and what the fuck this has to do with you popping back up in my life, and I want to know now. It’s the very least you owe me.”
He shook his head. “It just does, okay? Can’t you just trust me this once? Please? I’ll get on my knees and beg if I have to.”
I turned my keys and threw my car in reverse. “Have a nice life.”
His hand grabbed my left arm. “Wait!”
I whipped my head toward him, and I put the car back in park. “Start talking, or I’ll run you over getting out of this parking lot. Because if you're not going to be honest with me, then there’s no point in talking.”
His touch sizzled up the rest of my arm and traveled down my spine. My heart lurched in my chest as the heated words poured forth. As much as I hated to admit it, I was lying to him as much as he was lying to me. I wanted to talk with him. I wanted to hash things out. I wanted to know what the hell happened and what the fuck we could do to fix it because the more Natty mentioned her curiosity about her father, the more I wondered if I really could introduce her into his life. But I wouldn’t introduce the old Dean into her life. He had to be a new person in order for that to happen.
Because I’d spent too much of my life protecting that girl to have him shatter her world in one fell swoop.
“I’m sorry, Lexi,” he said as his grip loosened, “I’m just trying to keep you out of trouble. But, the more I tell you, the more of a target you become because of what you know. That’s all that’s happening here. I swear it.”
I sighed. “Well, the only way you can do that is if I know exactly what’s going on. You don’t have a good track record with me, so it’ll take more than just your measly little word.”
I shrugged off his touch, but he didn’t move. He didn’t speak, he didn’t look at me. Hell, he didn’t do anything. I followed his line of sight and found his bike parked at the back of the parking lot. And when he looked back at me, I scoffed.
“Really? Thinking about running again and leaving me to fend for myself? Again?” I asked.
He shook his head. “It wasn’t like that. It was never like that.”
I turned my entire body toward him and dangled my legs out of my Jeep. “Then, tell me, how was it, exactly? Did you come home from your deployment and just say, ‘hey, fuck it, I’ll break her heart and keep trucking along.’ Did you find someone else overseas? Someone with a tighter pussy?”
His growl stilled me in my chair. “I was dragged into a top-secret op after I stumbled upon some wounded soldiers on the side of the fucking road during a patrol. I bandaged them up, hauled them back to base, and the next thing I knew I was on a fucking chopper headed out of a war zone with the wounded men in tow.”
I furrowed my brow. “You’re not kidding, are you?”
He shook his head curtly. “No, and I’m not kidding about this.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re still going to have to tell me what the hell is happening.”
He did something in that moment that I hadn’t expected. He laid his hand out, palm up, against my thigh. He offered me his hand, and I knew that if I took it, he’d suck me right back in. I knew that if I tried to withstand his touch for too long, I’d be just as pliable and just as lenient as I was all those years ago. I couldn’t be that person any longer. I had to be strong for Natty.
But I wasn’t sure I’d ever be that strong as I laid my hand against his.
“I can tell you everything you want to know, but you have to come back to my place to talk. It’s not safe here after what happened with those men, and I need to make sure we’re safe before I fill you in on anything. You’ve got to believe me; I want to tell you. But, not here. It’s not safe here.”
I searched his eyes for a long time before I stuck my free hand into my purse. “I have a call I need to make. You can wait on your bike and when I’m done, I’ll come around and meet you.”
He shook his head. “Leave your car here. They’ll be looking for your vehicle, not mine. You can ride on the back of my bike and when we’re done talking, if you want to, I’ll bring you right back here.”
I shook my head. “I see you’re as agreeable as ever.”
“I’m sorry it has to be this way.”
I scrolled until I found Chloe’s number. “I need privacy for this call. You can stand behind the car.”
He closed my Jeep door, but it took a couple of bangs before it finally clicked. The damn thing was breaking down left and right, but I tried not to let it get to me. I held the ringing phone up to my ear and Chloe answered, her voice groggy from a lack of sleep.
I felt like shit for putting her in this situation, but if Natty and I were in danger, I needed to know what the hell was happening.
